"Princess Celestia," Twilight said, landing beside her former mentor, "What is that...vile contraption?"

"I wish I knew Twilight," Celestia replied, staring at the metallic gate, "Crimson said that something like this would happen if he failed to stop Darkstar, but it appears that she's one step ahead. I just hope that he knows what he's doing this time."

The comment made Twilight wonder if there was actually a time where Crimson had been in the wrong about something, but after everything she's seen and read she figured that Crimson knew exactly what he was doing. Before she could say anything she felt a vibration in the magic around the ring, as if something was coming out of the gate and it was prepping for the arrival. Than, just as she was about to fly towards it, the magic snapped open and flared outwards, the middle of the gate swirling as a foul darkness started to seep out of it. The sky around the gate darkened, as if it was seeping into the sky itself, before something finally emerged from the gate, though it wasn't what Twilight was expecting.

A different colored Celestia burst out of the gate, who she assumed was the mare that Crimson had named Darkstar, who just floated there as she stared at the world before her.

"So that's Darkstar," said a voice behind the two mares, turning out to be Princess Luna, "I can sense her power from here. How can we defeat something of her level?"

"Crimson has a plan," Celestia replied, a light smile appearing on her face, "He's always got a plan of some kind."

-----------------------------------------

"So, the gate worked," Darkstar commented, gazing at the bright colors of the land around her and imagining the destruction she would bring to this world, "The Prime Equestria, how I despise this world. I shall enjoy destroying everything that Crimson holds dear."

She turned her gaze to the west, where she found an identical castle to the one she ruled, though she found the pristine condition of the castle to be in terrible taste. A wicked grin appeared on her face as she charged up her horn, knowing that she would first destroy the home that Crimson had before she took over his world. It was fitting, she decided, that he attacked her capital and that she would return the favor, only she had the power to destroy and would require less time than it would take Crimson to do anything. Before she could unleash the magic something hit her in the side of the head, hard enough to make her horn point to the ground and discharge her horn, blowing a hole in the ground.

Much to her rage she discovered that Crimson had, somehow, followed her through the gate and was literally attacking her hard enough to change the direction of her spell.

"I have had enough of you!" Darkstar shouted, grabbing Crimson's leg and throwing him towards Canterlot, "Why? Why is it that every time I try to ruin this world your here, standing in my way? I shall enjoy destroying you and your pathetic world."

Before Crimson had a chance to dodge or move out of the way she charged up her horn and blasted him in the side, causing him to descend to the ground for a bit before he corrected his course. Seeing how he managed to get up from the blast and continue fighting Darkstar felt her rage grow even more, though she was fortunate to have the object of her rage so close to her. Crimson charged up his own spell and came at her, though she moved to his back and slammed another spell into his spine, throwing him towards the ground. As Crimson prepared to correct himself Darkstar unleashed another blast, this one hitting him hard enough to force him to hit the ground and shatter the surrounding area.

Crimson moaned as he picked himself up, knowing that if he hadn't been wearing the gemstone that mimicked Tirek's powers he would have been severely hurt. It was amazing that the stone could even absorb a fraction of Darkstar's magic, but he had no idea how much longer the stone could hold on before he was forced to expel all the magic. As he stood up he focused on Darkstar and looked back at the gate, knowing that he had little time to spare to actually planning an offensive against his enemy. He grunted and loaded another spell before he flared his wings, taking to the sky and loosing the spell the moment he lined up perfectly with Darkstar.

Darkstar simply took the spell at face value and shrugged it off, glaring at her enemy as she considered how to best break him before she broke his world. That was before a beam of light hit her in the side and knocked her out of the sky for a moment, but she corrected herself and glared in the direction of the attack, finding Crimson's mother coming her way.

"So, Crimson cannot defeat me and he brings in this world's true champion to stop me?" Darkstar shouted, locking eyes with Celestia as the Darkness continued to seep out of the gate, "Tell me, dearest Celestia, did he tell you that, no matter what he's done, I will always be one step ahead of him? I will shroud your world in Darkness and consume you and your ponies before you have a chance to fight back, just like I did with every other world I came to conquer. Your Equestria will be no different."

"Your certainly talkative," Celestia commented, summoning her golden spear and pointing it at the evil version of herself, "I shall be blunt, I will fight you and Crimson will stop you. I'm afraid that we don't have more time to talk."

With that said Celestia burst through the air, rocketing towards Darkstar and slamming her weapon into her side with enough force to throw her towards the Everfree Forest. Darkstar was surprised that the Princess would show such a display of power right off the bat, but it was more enjoyable than beating somepony who wasn't even trying. She knew that she could destroy Crimson later, though she wouldn't put it passed him to try something dangerous to get back at her and the gate. While she was distracted for a moment Celestia hit her again, sending her even further into the forest, where she hit the ruined castle and shattered one of the walls in the process.

Crimson, on the other hoof, stared up at the gate and tapped on the gemstone, wondering if it held the power to consume the Darkness that was pouring out of it. Instead of wasting time he flared his wings and continued towards the gate, passing the outer edge of the ring until he was right above it, where he could focus on what needed to be done. He tapped the stone again and let its magic connect to the area around the gate, hoping to stall the Darkness before it could set off a chain reaction that would destroy all of creation.

Darkstar, feeling Crimson beginning to do something to her gate, swung her magic at Celestia and knocked her out of the air before she flared her wings. She took off immediately, taking to the skies above the Everfree Forest as she zeroed in on where her true enemy was located, right above her gate. As Celestia corrected herself Darkstar flew through the skies, quickly reaching above the tallest spire in Canterlot before Crimson turned his head and noticed her coming. Once she was near the gate she loosed a teleportation spell and appeared behind her enemy, giving him a swift kick in the side that knocked him over the edge of the gate and caused him to descend just a tiny bit.

"I have had enough of you," Darkstar shouted, her magic wrapping around the gemstone in her necklace before she shattered it, "I shall show you the true meaning of terror and despair."

Darkness surged out of the stone and surrounded Darkstar, reaching all around her until she was shrouded from the view of everyone that was watching the fight. Celestia came to a stop near her son, though she was more focused on stopping Darkstar than learning what her son had planned for the fight. When the mass of darkness finally pulled itself away from Darkstar both Celestia and Crimson were shocked by what they found waiting for them; Darkstar's body had been twisted into a more monstrous form. Her legs had been broken and rearranged, turning into those that the Diamond Dogs had and allowed her to walk on her hind legs without any sort of pain. Her body was covered in ashy grey fur, while her front legs had been turned into a mockery of the Diamond Dog's paws, which would allow her to grab things with ease. Her pristine wings had been warped into large bat-like wings and her head had been warped into that of a large wolf's head, both adding to her terrifying visage.

Crimson had to admit it, but the amount of power that Darkstar was putting out, and her terrifying final form, was enough to make him wonder if he even stood a chance at this point. Before he could comment, however, Darkstar held her arm out and the air around her shimmered, though a moment later a scythe appeared out of thin air and she grabbed it without delay.

"I have not had the opportunity to call on my full power in over two thousand years," Darkstar said, her voice sounding as if she was filled with pure evil, "The last time I used this form was against enemies that truly deserved to meet their end at the end of my scythe, but I have made an exception for you, Crimson. Now, witness my full power!"

Just as the words left her mouth she swung the scythe towards the air next to her and the weapon cut through the air, creating a tear in the sky that let them see to another dimension that wasn't Equestria or the Darkness. Crimson had never seen the school building that laid on the other side of the tear, but he dreaded to think of the consequences of what Darkstar was doing. That was when the gate started to hum, causing the ground to break below it as several more tears opened in the sky around Darkstar, revealing more worlds that were in danger of being destroyed.

"So the end has begun," Darkstar commented, pointing the head of her weapon at Crimson, "Too bad that you won't be around to see your world end."

Before Crimson had a chance to say anything a wave of darkness hit him square in the chest, hard enough to send him rocketing through the air towards the Everfree Forest until he crashed into the ruins. As he pulled himself up, as gently as he could, he violently coughed and noticed that he had coughed up blood, telling him that the impact was worse than he had expected. By all rights Darkstar's attack should have severely hurt him, but the worst he was getting from this ordeal was a cracked rib and some blood. It was then that he realized that he truly had no choice, if he wanted to defeat Darkstar he was going to have to unleash the magic of the gemstone and hoped that it was as powerful as his counterpart dreaded it was.

He stood up and gripped the gemstone with his magic, pausing for a moment to steady his breathing, before he closed his magic and shattered the stone into a thousand fragments. Then, just as he thought would happen, a mass of darkness erupted out of the necklace, surrounding him and covered him in seconds, exactly like what happened to Darkstar. As the darkness began to seep into his body he closed his eyes and prayed that he didn't end up messed up like Darkstar, in body or in the mind.

-----------------------------------------

"Do you have any idea what your doing?" Celestia asked, making sure to keep her distance from Darkstar while worrying about her son and how she was going to beat this enemy, "Your precious gate is going to destroy all of creation. Our world will die, your world is going to die, and all the worlds you see around us will die. Your destroying all of creation with this gate!"

"Your wrong in that regard," Darkstar laughed, spinning her scythe around while looking at all the worlds she would eventually conquer, "This world will be consumed by the Darkness, your ponies made into slaves that will serve me, and your soldiers will follow me into battle when I come to a new world to take over. You and your fellow alicorns will be made into slaves to serve my will, just as your enemies will fall into allies for my cause. Face it Celestia, I will be the one walking away from this with all the prizes."

That was before a beam of black energy shot through the air and hit her square in the chest, knocking her right out of the center of the gate and forced her to correct herself once she had passed the outer edge. She expected to find that her sister had somehow worked up the courage to cross over the worlds and come after her, but as she traced the beam back to its attacker she found a surprising sight. Crimson Flare had somehow survived her attack, only this time he was baring an ashy colored coat and his fiery mane and tail had changed to an icy blue color. With the blackened jewelry and the blood red eyes the changes almost made it seem like her own son had come back from the dead, but it was just giving Crimson an eviler look than what he already had.

It was almost as if Crimson had somehow found a sliver of her son's soul and had merged with him, in an attempt to gain enough power to stop her.

"You need to gather the others so they can seal the gate before it causes anymore destruction," Crimson told his mother, briefly turning to face her, "All of their counterparts are waiting on the other side, preparing their magic for the moment I told them to wait for, but you need to get them all together. I'll stall her for as long as I am able."

Celestia had absolutely no idea what her son was going on about, what with his secret plan that he hadn't informed her about until this exact moment, but she knew that she needed to trust him once more. She turned back towards Canterlot and flew off, though as she did so she heard the sound of Darkstar preparing an attack on her and heard Crimson block it with his own spell. As she flew she really hoped that whatever plan her son had made would work, otherwise she was sure that she didn't like the outcome that would be theirs if they failed.

"So, you have been holding back as well," Darkstar commented, readying her scythe and her magic, "I should have known that it couldn't be this easy to defeat you, even if you were planning an offensive while I smacked you around like a doll. This time I shall use my full power and obliterate you, leaving nothing for the darkness to bring back. Then I shall raze your world to the ground, just like I have done to the countless worlds I attacked before this one..."

Before she could finish her monologue a beam of black energy hit her once more, cutting her off in mid sentence and causing her to glare at Crimson with hate in her eyes.

"Yes, I stopped your villainous monologue," Crimson said, magic sparking around his body, "but, like I said earlier, we don't have the time to waste on speeches. I'm coming, Darkstar."

With that said he burst out of the sky, rocketing towards Darkstar with a speed that matched what her's was while she was at full power, much to her amazement. Before she had a chance to swing at Crimson he disappeared, but the moment she turned to look behind her she was hit in the back by another beam of energy. As she corrected herself Darkstar realized that he must have combined his flight and teleportation spell, creating a flash step or something that made her lose him for a moment. She spun around and swung the scythe, letting the darkness cut through the air as Crimson met it head on, stopping it before he shattered it before her eyes.

She was starting to think that it might not be so easy to defeat Crimson, not if he continued to display the same amount of power that he was showing her.

Crimson pulled out a black sword and held it to his right, but as Darkstar watched she realized that he was gathering the darkness to him, allowing it to gather on the blade itself. Then, just as she prepared to defend herself, he swung the weapon, a huge wave of energy coming her way and barreling right into her chest, letting loose an explosion. She flew out of the smoke with ease, though her body was actually damaged from the impact and she brought her magic into her horn, intending to strike her enemy down. Crimson, seeing her emerge and charge her horn, called his own magic to his horn, challenging her to have their magic collide in a magic duel of sorts.

The resulting explosion between the two beams of magic created a gigantic black sphere between them, forcing the two of them to push their magic against the others magic. Darkstar thought she was going to get away with winning such a match, but the moment she let her arrogance take hold Crimson's magic overtook her own, pushing the sphere down at her. Before she had a chance to move out of the way the sphere exploded, blasting her out of the air and causing her to land on the broken ground below the gate.

As she landed she felt something odd, she was beginning to feel like she actually wasn't going to best Crimson, not with the fact that his power up and his planning skills were combined. It was then she decided to try a new plan, where she'd enter the gate once more and return to her own world, where she'd destroy her enemies, consume their powers, and then erase Crimson's world. She flared her wings and took to the sky, spiraling around to make it harder for Crimson to target her, though she countered herself lucky as she passed him and flew into the gate.

Once she realized that he wasn't following her she knew she was home free. And that meant she was free to kill the enemies of Shadowlot and gain their powers.

-----------------------------------------

"She's coming!" Midnight shouted, having gathered her energy like the rest of her allies, "Let's put a stop to Darkstar at long last."

They had swept through the guards that defended the city, as they had lost all hope the moment that Darkstar decided to abandon them and rain destruction on them. Now she, her friends, Nightmare, Rhythm, Nova, Order, and Meta were preparing their magic, hoping to seal the gateway away before it could ruin everything. The moment they saw Darkstar in the middle of the gate, crossing back to their world, they had gathered in an array around the gate and poured their magic into it, intending to seal it before she could cross over. Midnight made a note of Darkstar's unusual form, but at the moment she could feel the gate closing on their side and that gave her hope.

Darkstar, on the other hoof, noticed the opening to her world closing, much too fast for her to safely make it back to her captial, so she turned around and headed to Crimson's world. It was then that she discovered that she had been tricked once more, as the moment she entered the gate her enemies and their Primal counterparts started the same spell at the same time. She noticed an imbalance of magic on both sides and realized that, seeing how her own son and niece were still dead, she could still break into her world and return to Crimson's world when the time was right. Though when she turned around she found two ponies waiting on the Darkness side that she had thought she would never see again, Ebon Flare and Dayfury.

"Goodbye mother," Ebon shouted into the void, just as Darkstar swore that the exit to Crimson's world was sealed shut, which was moments before the exit to her home world closed before her.

She screamed in anger, using her magic to attack everything and anything around her, trying to hit something that would tell her that she could move to another world. That was before the magic of the void, a place she knew absolutely nothing about, began to close on her, sucking on her own magic as her body began to turn to dust. She moved against the magic, gathering her own into a magical blast that she detonated immediately, only to find that it was absorbed by the void in seconds. Her wings broke into pieces, her legs snapped, her horn shattered, and she could feel the rest of her body breaking as the void claimed her for itself.

And then, just as she prepared to scream again, the void consumed the rest of her, ending her existence in the blink of an eye.

-----------------------------------------

Crimson huffed as he landed in the plains near Canterlot, the fragments of the large gate, those that somehow survived the sealing spell, landing all around him. Somehow, against all the odds that had been presented before him, he had managed to stop Darkstar and save not only his own world and the world of the Shadows, but the rest of creation. He began to chuckle, as the realization that he had finally ended the threat that Glimmer had brought with her dawned on him, even as he collapsed among the ruined gate. He opened his eyes for a moment and noticed his mother coming his way, though he was too tired to care about his anger.

"I told you about the threat," Crimson commented, letting his exhaustion claim him, "I...told you...so..."

"That you did son," Celestia smiled, tears filling her eyes as she wrapped her wings over her tired son, "That you did."